Motorcycle Myths and Misconceptions

Motorcyclists and motorcycling are surrounded by myths and misconceptions to the point where very few people know the facts so lets see if we can see past the myths and expose some of the truth. I guarantee that even if you are a rider you will be surprised.

Bikes are dangerous
This is of course the most common of all. The one we have all heard countless times so lets look at the facts and see how dangerous they really are.

According to the statistics supplied by the PNP Traffic Management Group and the LTO for the period 1999 to 2003:
Motorcycles are 36% of the national vehicle population and average 1 accident in eight years.
Tricycles are 20% of the national vehicle population and average 1 accident in every six years.
Trucks are 10% of the national vehicle population and average 1 accident about every 9 months.
Cars are 33% of the national vehicle population and average 1 accident every 8 months.
Buses are 1% of the national vehicle population and average 1 accident every 4 months.

The above figures show that buses have around 24 times more accidents than motorcycles, cars have around 12 times more accidents than motorcycles, trucks slightly less than cars, etc. OK, I hear you say, but if you have an accident on a bike aren't you much more likely to be seriously injured or killed?

In short the answer is NO. The fatality figures per accident are Motorcycles 1%, Cars 2%, Trucks 2%, Buses 3% and Jeepneys 3%. So you are twice as likely to be killed in a car or truck accident than a motorcycle accident and 3 times more likely to be killed in a bus or jeepney accident than in a motorcycle accident.

If my very poor mathematics are correct these very reliable and accurate figures indicate that you are 24 times more likely to be involved in an accident riding a bus and 3 times more likely to be killed in the bus accident so that means you are 64 times more likely to be killed riding a bus than riding a motorcycle. You are 12 times more likely to be involved in an accident in your car and twice as likely to be killed so you are 24 times more likely to be killed riding in a car than riding on a motorcycle.

Lets leave the reasons why the above actually makes a lot of sense to another issue and move on.

Bikers weave through traffic
Short answer - yes. Long answer - the alternative is worse.
When traffic is queued at traffic lights or moving very slowly it is common to see bikes slipping through the traffic up to the front. Sometimes they may even get stuck in front of you sitting in your car before a gap opens up and they are gone. What really upsets the car driver is that he/she is stuck in the traffic while the biker just slips through and away. When you are driving your car in heavy traffic and there is a gap big enough for you to move forward do you sit still while listening to the inevitable racket of horns behind you or do you move forward? Why are bikers branded as undisciplined because they move forward rather than block traffic?

So what should riders do? Stay in line taking up the space of a car? I wonder how much longer the traffic queues would be and how much longer it would take the car driver to get to his destination if we did that? It would be like adding 36% more vehicles to the traffic.

While it may be frustrating sitting in a traffic queue while bikers zip past, the alternative would be far worse for everyone. That is why most developed countries actively promote motorcycles because they reduce congestion and pollution while freeing up parking spaces. London, England has a toll to enter the city center but motorcycles are exempt. Some cities in Europe even have parking spaces with free chains to lock up your bike. The simple fact is that more bikes means less traffic for everyone, including those who still drive their cars.

If you are what we call a cager (a cage is any enclosed vehicle), next time you are stuck in traffic watching the bikes zip by, try to imagine what the traffic would be like if we all stayed in lane, or used our cars because if we have to sit in the queue we might as well do it in air conditioned comfort. Our protective gear is extremely hot in this climate when not moving so standing still under the sun is not a good thing to do. To put things into perspective also watch the jeepneys and buses who swerve across multiple lanes, even in fast moving traffic. They will stop across multiple lanes, let passengers off in the middle of the road, swerve into you as you pass, etc. Aren't they many times more dangerous than a bike slipping through the gaps? They certainly cause a lot more traffic problems for you. The dangerous antics of tricycle, jeepney and bus drivers are simply so common that people don't even notice it. About 80% of public transport vehicles even advertise in lights their contempt for the law with illegal, dangerous, and non-existent lights.

Bikers are gangsters, drug addicts, riff raff, etc
A popular misconception is that those who ride bikes are somehow lesser beings and that those who ride big bikes are gangsters, drug addicts, etc. If a couple of guys rob a bank and get away in a car the press will say a couple of guys robbed a bank and got away in a car but if a couple of guys rob a bank and get away on motorcycles the headline would be something like "Biker gang robs bank" This particular myth is actually showing signs of disappearing but some facts may be in order.

There are about 140 motorcycle clubs registered on Motorcycle Philippines and almost all are involved in charity work. Whenever there is discussion on law and order issues on the road there are always plenty of riders ready to step forward and help out. Bikers in general are far more likely to help people in trouble and promote law and order. Like any other group there are misfits. There are riders who jump red lights, ride on the sidewalk, etc but they are a tiny minority. Unfortunately they are the ones who get noticed and remembered. The hundreds of law abiding riders you see every day go unnoticed and are rarely remembered.

Bikes are ridden by those who can't afford cars and bikes are slow
This one has special meaning in the Philippines because this misconception is putting riders in serious danger every day. There is currently a case in the Supreme Court to end the ban on motorcycles using the freeways that the motorcycle community sees as illegal and putting riders in unnecessary danger.

This is covered elswhere on this site so I will mention only the minimal facts. The ban started 35 years ago because presidential escorts were told to remove their safety helmets and wear straw hats. One had an accident and was killed because he was not wearing a helmet.

A previous Chairman of the PNCC stated (more than once) that people who don't ride bikes bigger than 500cc are poor and uneducated and that is why he introduced a 400cc limit (He was argued down to 400cc ). I once asked him why the PNCC uses little 150cc bikes. He said they can't afford bigger bikes! If this reasoning is valid then all buses, jeepneys, owner jeepneys, taxis, trucks and a large percentage of the cars should be banned because their drivers could not afford big bikes!

The fact is that a large number of those riding smaller bikes and scooters do so simply because that is what they prefer or that is what is most suitable for the riding they do and is safer in heavy traffic. You would probably be surprised at how many professional people ride scooters and small bikes.

If you buy a bike to get to and from the office the chances are a scooter is the most practical because it is light and agile and has some storage space for your helmet, your lunch bag, sandwiches, etc. They are also practical for long distances and are often faster than motorcycles with much larger engine sizes. Incidentally scooters now range in size from 50cc to 1,000cc. Dirt bikes are actually the most suitable for Manila roads because they can handle the potholes and bad surfaces best.

Studies done in many countries show that you are as much as 147 times more likely to have an accident on the alternative routes than on freeways (and they have much safer alternative roads than we do).

This is especially true of motorcycles because over 70% of accidents involving motorcycles are caused by vehicles pulling out of side turnings in front of them or turning across in front of the motorcycle to enter a side turning. Other common accident causes are pedestrians, opposing traffic, large differences in vehicle speed, etc. None of these causes of accidents exist on freeways!

Ignoring the fact that the minimum speed limit is 60kph virtually any bike of around 120cc (and many smaller ones) can comfortably reach the maximum speed limit of 100kph. Knowing this the authorities are now saying that bikes under 400cc cannot accelerate fast enough from 60 to 100kph. On a road where everything is traveling at close to the same speed it is hard to imagine why you would need rapid acceleration from 60 to 100kph. If you ban small bikes due to their acceleration rate from 60 to 100kph you must also ban all buses, all trucks, all jeepneys, all owner jeepneys and at least 50% of the cars because they all accelerate slower between 60 and 100kph than almost any small bike likely to use the expressways.

In July 2001 a writ of preliminary injunction was issued by the courts making it illegal to stop motorcycles of any size entering the tollways. In the two years that this writ was in force there were two accidents on freeways involving motorcycles. One was caused by a truck stalled in the passing lane at night with no warning lights. The other was caused by a truck wheel in the middle of the road on SLEX at night. It wrote off two cars and two bikes. During the same period there were almost certainly a large number of people killed in bus and other vehicle accidents on the tollways.

Unfortunately we don't have figures for the number of deaths and injuries caused on the alternative routes due to riders being forced off the far safer tollways. We just have memories of friends who have been killed or injured due to ignorance and bigotry.

This article was first published in the Philippine News Explorer February 2004